Room Escape Artist

Shaman & Sasquatch: Nature Cops

Location:  Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada

Date Played: May 9, 2026

Team Size: 3-8; we recommend 3-4

Duration: 90 minutes

Price: $47.84 CAD per player

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration:  All players must go down steep stairs.

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Chamanik in a single word: confusing.

I don’t mean to say that the puzzles were confusing. It’s a puzzle-focused game that functionally works. It’s confusing because everything was uneven. Some puzzles solved beautifully; others got in their own way. The same could be said about the set design. Some parts built a fiction; others looked uninspired. And when Chamanik became most interesting that usually meant that the interaction was going to overstay its welcome, becoming uncomfortable, tedious, or nerve-wracking.

The low point was a puzzle where as we got deeper into it, we just got more anxious that we were going to make a small mistake and have to start a large section over again. This is not the reaction that you want to have to an otherwise solid puzzle. When we finished it, we didn’t feel happy, we felt relieved.

There are some fun ideas in Chamanik… this game has the bones to be more than it is now, which wasn’t bad. It’s worth playing if you’re in the region, but it could be a lot more with a bit of love, better acting, and editing the gameplay down to 75 or 60 minutes.

And this brings me to the second part of Chamanik being confusing. In the escape room world, the name “Escaparium” has come to represent an extreme level of production value, scale, and industry leading interaction design. Going into Escaparium Sherbrooke, I wasn’t sure what the relationship between the locations was. After leaving, I felt that I needed to clarify things. The short version, as I understand it, is that these are two completely different companies that opened in the early days with shared branding and infrastructure. Both companies have since walked their own paths. While I am certain that I am missing some nuance, this feels right in the broad strokes.

My main observation is that Chamanik is a fine escape room that isn’t far away from being a lot more special than it was when we played it… and if you are a local from Sherbrooke, this is probably a delightful game. If you are traveling from afar, and expecting to hold Escaparium Sherbrooke to the reputation of Escaparium, then you are probably doing everyone involved a disservice. After visiting, I found myself feeling like Escaparium Sherbrooke is a “solid local company” that could seize the mantle of “great regional company” if it wanted to do so. I, for one, am rooting for Escaparium Sherbrooke to carve out its own identity and build upon the foundation that they have.

Who is this for?

• Puzzle lovers
• Fans of eccentric escape room worlds
• Best for players with at least some experience
• Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle

Why play?

• An atypical setting
• Some unusual interactions

Story

Nature had been disturbed and the forest was unsettled. The Order of Shamans had asked us to investigate the strange occurrences and unravel the mystery of what had disrupted the forest.

Setting

Chamanik had a classic escape room style with puzzley puzzles set in a remote cabin in the forest in the winter. The set was uneven, with some parts looking more convincing than others. Overall, the set did its job.

Gameplay

Escaparium Sherbrooke’s Chamanik was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around observing, making connections, and solving puzzles.

Analysis

➕ As we played through Chamanik we uncovered a collection of unusual artifacts. These were neat props.

➕ Escaparium Sherbrooke provided a backpack, which was a nice touch when we needed to carry props to another scene. (This backpack could be revealed along with the scene change, to further streamline gameplay.)

➕ / ➖ We were not prepared for the set to be as expansive as it was. However, many of the game spaces felt unnaturally sparse. There were also opportunities to enhance the lighting in the room, adding light for work surfaces and pin lights for interactions and cluing.

➕ Some of our favorite props were dioramas. Escaparium Sherbrooke added fun details in miniature.

➕ Escaparium Sherbrooke made the winter theming an integral part of the experience. It played a large role in one aha. It also led to one of our favorite finds of the game, pointed right at us the whole time.

➖ However, we were shocked by the frigid temperature in one interaction. It was thematic, but we can’t say it was enjoyable.

➖ We were intrigued by one prop that would trigger in an usual way. However, the resulting stream was a let down.

➖ In general, the gameplay suffered from flow issues. We had access to a lot of information at once, but much of it was only partial information, leading us to spend time on puzzles we couldn’t solve. That said, we solved multiple puzzles out of order because on our keen attention to detail. When we later solved puzzles that provided clue structure to puzzles we’d already solved, it was a let down. Additionally, multiple puzzles hinged on a single large prop tucked into a corner. It was hard for multiple players to access at once, causing a bottleneck and disrupting flow.

➖ One large puzzle trapped us in a web of anxiety. When we made a mistake, we lost a lot of our progress. And mistakes were possible because we were matching like items that weren’t quite exact. The puzzle design made us dread inputing solutions.

➕ We enjoyed how one late game prop cooked up a fun transformation.

Tips For Visiting

• This game is available in French or English.
• There is a parking lot.

Book your session with Escaparium Sherbrooke’s Chamanik, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Escaparium Sherbrooke provided a complimentary game.